


Consumption

by olivemartini



Category: The 100, The 100 (TV)
Genre: AU, Angst, F/M, Fluff, Friends to Lovers, Multiple chapters, Murphy's Law, Romance, my title sucks btw
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2016-03-26
Updated: 2016-03-26
Packaged: 2018-05-29 07:03:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,421
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/6364171
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/olivemartini/pseuds/olivemartini
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>"Have you ever met someone that you knew you were going to completely destroy yourself for, but you found yourself loving them anyways?"  Claudia couldn't turn around, because then they might see the tears sliding down her cheeks or notice the way her hands were trembling.  "Because that's what Murphy is to me."</p><p> </p><p>Murphy had no one who cared about him and nothing going for him.<br/>Except for Claudia.<br/>And after years of being friends and taking care of each other, Claudia couldn't face leaving him to die and never seeing him again, despite the fact that trying to save him would ruin her.  So when she hears that there's a spot for one more prisoner on the drop ship, she makes sure that it's filled.<br/>And now she's on the ground.<br/>But it's not like Earth science always said.  It isn't full of burning buildings and radioactive particles, but of green and the smell of dirt and running water and vibrant flowers.... and mutant animals, killer grounders, starvation.  And worse, the Murphy she gave up everything for has seemed to have disappeared entirely, leaving a stranger in his place.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Consumption

**Author's Note:**

> If anyone can think of a better title for this, please let me know.

Tennyson knew that there were easier ways to get arrested, but those would take time, and she only had a few hours.

_"They're sending us down to Earth, Tennyson."_

_She could remember her hand jerking to the right, ruining the perfectly printed report she had been writing.  But suddenly it didn't matter anymore._

_"All of us?"  Her mind was filled with images of colorful forests and the crystal clearness of running water, but Murphy shook his head._

_"Not you.  Me.  Us.  The juvenile prisoners."_

_And suddenly she couldn't breathe, and had to fight to push down the panic that was rising up in her throat.  Earth was dangerous.  Earth was so far away.  And apparently Earth was going to be where Murphy was, while she was up here, thousands of miles away._

Her hands were shaking, and her stomach was churning, but she had made up her mind.

She never liked that guard anyways.  He had always taken every chance he could to make Murphy miserable.

He deserved a lot worse than the broken nose she was about to give him.

_"But you're kids!  Why- why would they do that?"_

_She had to fight to keep her voice down, knowing without being told that this was very confidential information.   It wouldn't be good for Murphy -or her- if anyone found out that she knew._

_"Apparently they've decided waiting until we're eighteen is too long."_

_"They know this will kill you, right?"_

_But she could see in his eyes that they know, but no one cares._

She tried to keep her breathing steady.  She couldn't blow this.  Not when it's her only chance.

She joined the lunch line, dragging her feet on purpose.  It would be hard for her to get in trouble, because no matter how much she wanted to admit it, who her parents were gave her a lot of protection.  It wasn't fair, but right now it didn't matter.

All it meant is that if she was going to break the law, she better make it count.

_"Are you scared?"_

_The words left her mouth before she could stop them.   Murphy never liked to admit to being afraid.  He never needed to, not to her.  She could see the truth in his eyes._

_"Not really."  A lie.  "I'm used to being alone."_

_"You're not alone."  There was a lump rising in her throat, and it was hard to get the words out.  No matter how many times she insisted otherwise, Murphy believed the worst in himself._

_"I'm not alone because of you."  He rolled his eyes, but it was good natured.  "But you can't be there for me from fifty thousand miles away."_

_It was true, but the words felt like a knife to the heart.  She had known long ago that she would do anything for him, go to any lengths just to let him know that he isn't alone.  (And even though she tells herself  otherwise, she knows that the way she clings to him isn't for his benefit.  Being without him would kill her.)_

_"What if I came with you?"_

She took more than her fair share of food.  It was right under the nose of the guard, the one with the too thick eyebrows and yellowing teeth.  She knew that he saw.

"Aren't you going to stop me?"

He didn't even meet her eyes.  Her question was a challenge, and he accepted defeat without even putting up a fight.  Murphy had been right.

Tennyson could only stand there, like a deer frozen in the headlights, but she had known from the beginning that this wasn't going to be easy.

_"No."  He shook his head, leaning closer to her as if that would help get his point across faster, but it was too late.  She had already seen the hope in her eyes, and both of their minds were already racing to figure out how they could make this happen.  "Tennyson, you can't."_

_"All I have to do is get arrested.  It can't be that hard, can it?"_

_"No, listen to me."  He reached further across the table, trying to get to her, but the chains held him back.  "You cannot do this. I know you've always tried to save me in the past, but not this time.  Okay?  I care about you too much to let you do this."_

_"You don't have a choice."  She was surprisingly calm, considering that she was discussing how to leave behind everything she ever knew in order to follow a boy down the Earth._

_"This isn't like giving up a few hours of sleep to help me study for a test, or skipping meals to visit me, or stitching up cuts because I've already gone to the medical bay too often, alright?"  There was panic in his voice, and anger, but a little bit of sadness, too.  "We've known that this was always going to end.  They've just put a deadline to it."_

_"This?  You mean us?"_

_"You're going to go off and be Chancellor, remember?  If you keep trying to take care of me, I would just hold you back. We knew you'd have to ditch me eventually."_ "I tried to steal something."  Her voice was a quiet hiss in his ear, because as much as she needed to make sure she was on that ship with Murphy, she didn't want to make a scene.  It was one thing to have the whispers of her arrest spreading through the Ark when she was already in lock up, it would be quite another to see the stunned looks on everyone's faces if a public arrest were to be made.  "Aren't you going to arrest me?"

No, he wasn't. 

"What happened to discipline?  You're a member of the guard, for god's sake!  Arrest me!"  She was desperate now, because no one was paying attention to her.  No one ever did.  She threw the tray down, sending food splattering across the floor.  She could feel water forming a puddle around her shoes, and one dot of mashed potato was on the guard's face.  The cafeteria had gone quiet.  "Look at me, damn it!"

_"We don't have an expiration date.  You are my best friend.  I would die for you.  Don't you get that?"_

_"And if you come to the earth, that's exactly what you're going to do."  The bell rang, shrill and piercing, signaling the end of visiting hours.  "This whole time, you've been trying to save me.  Just once, listen to me, and let me save you."_

_He was getting up.  There were two guards, one on each arm, about to take him away, but she wasn't ready.  "Wait!"  She ran to him, throwing her arms around him.  He didn't hug her back, but she could feel his breath on her neck, harsh and uneven, and knew he was trying hard not to cry.  "I need to tell you, just in case I can't do it.  You're my best friend.  I love you.  Be careful."_

_"Don't do this."  He pulled away from her, looking like she had just wounded him.  "Please, don't do this.  Don't ruin your life for someone like me."_

_He still didn't get it.  It'd been decided long ago that she would do anything for him, because without him, there would be no one left for her to live for.  "I'm not."_

_She's doing it for herself._

She hadn't meant to hurt anyone.

But once the tray was on the ground, she was staring at the guard, daring him to do something.  And suddenly without the ability of his weapon to keep her in line, or the knowledge that none of the kids he pushed around could ever push back, he wasn't that brave.  She could remember the bruises on Murphy's arms, and the welts on his shoulders, and the slight bump in his nose from when this man broke it, and suddenly she was no longer concerned with just being arrested.  She wanted this man to hurt.

In the end, he was on the ground, and it took three more guardsmen to pull her away.  She was fighting all the way down to her cell, screaming over the sound of the reading of her Miranda rights.  When they passed Murphy's cell, he peeked out the window, and Tennyson swore he looked almost proud.  She was told later that the guard she attacked had to have surgery to reconstruct his nose, and would have to have a cast on his arm for three months.

She wasn't sorry. 


End file.
